If only for a moment
by bluebubbleschica
Summary: A day in the life of a outlander and her three cubs.ONESHOT. rated for some violence and language.


Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever owned the lion king. It be property of disney, my dear. ;)

Author's note: Hey hey hey! bluebubbleschica here! And back with yet another lion king oneshot! ENJOY! please review and tell me what ya thought! flames welcome. :)

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Zira sighed. It had been a long day. She had found a small puddle of water. It stank, it was mucky, but it was water, and her parched throat demanded it. Not only

that, but her youngest son, Kovu, was slowly dying of dehydration. Her other son and her daughter would not last much longer either. Her youngest cubs, Vitani and Kovu,

rested upon her back, as Nuka, her oldest son, dragged behind her. When the four discovered the mucky puddle thier eyes lit up! They could not believe they finally found

some! Zira was near tears. _Finally, my children will pull through _she thought smiling. She helped her youngest off her back gently and called Nuka over. She then instructed

them to drink slowly,to savor it. Suddenly out of nowhere, there was a loud snarl. Before Zira knew what had happened, a paw whipped at her face, resulting in a rather

large on here cheek. She opened her mouth to roar in pain, but before she could,she felt another blow, this time to her ribs. She felt a crack, and fell to the dusty, dry earth

with a smack. As she fell, she looked in the direction of her cubs. Kovu was shoved aside as one of the rouge lionesses drank thristily. Another female swiped her paw at

Vitani, who shrank back, but still growled fiercly at the lioness. The lioness seemed briefly confused, but still whipped Vitani across the face with her paw. Vitani, fell over

backward, lying on the dry savannah unconious. Zira roared furiously, and struggled to her feet. Another lioness from the group,very young, about Nuka's age, looked

sympathetic to her. She turned to Zira, telling her, "I'm sorry, but we are thristy too,."sincerity dripping form her vioce. Zira, still in pain,picked up Vitani and Kovu gently

between her teeth. She turned to Nuka, who had been lovingly licking his younger sister to wake her. Kovu leaned by her side mewing softly. "Lets go,son." she told him.

Nuka looked a bit surprised, Zira never called him that, but he was willing to accept any form of affection she showed him. Obediantly he trotted alongside his mother.

Zira shook her head, recalling that horrid expierence. Still she could not remove the young lioness' words from her head, or the distraught expression plastered

across her face as she said them. _I'm sorry...but we're thirsty too...._

Frankly, she didn't know what to think. She was infuriated that someone DARE harm her child, but at the same time she was disgusted that lions had to physically fight

each other for a small puddle of stale, muddy water. But then, that's how it is. Your heart must toughen, along with your body. You must show no emotion out here(,with

the exception of anger of course, you needed that to be intimadating. Without intimadating others, you would come in last. You wouldn't survive.) She gave another,long,

exasperated, sigh. It didn't have to be this way. Then, her eyes flashed angry in realization. Of course it didn't have to be this way! Had not everyone's favorite king, Simba,

banished them to this living hell, they would still have watering holes, real watering holes, with actual water in them! Not like the dried up ones that were all over this

forsaken wasteland. As for food, oh food, there would be plenty of meats as far as the eye could see. And plenty of space for her children to run, without the fear of rouge

lions trying to eat them, for the lack of fresh meat in the outlands was so great. Zira felt pricking in the back of her eyes. It stung, like a thousand wasps had stung her

there, but she knew very well they were tears forming. She knew her beloved Scar would never be pleased with what had become of his family; his again, Scar

would never had let this happen, she was certain of this.

She walked slowly out of the den, gazing up at the stars. "Oh, Scar" she murmered,"I miss you so much. I am so lost without you. Do you miss me as well?" She

wondered aloud."I love you. So much. So very much." Silently she fell to the ground, letting her tears roll down her cheeks and hit the dry ground. Through her tears, she

began to sleep, beneath the stars. and she dreamt of a time when things weren't so hard, when he was hers...if only for a moment.

Nuka crept up slowly, Vitani on his back and Kovu following closely behind. Nuka took a cautious step forward, toward his mother. He saw her ribs move up and down, and

he knew she was in a deep sleep. He carefully moved his paw to her face, moving her head so he could see it. Her tired eyes were shut and a small smile was spread over

her muzzle. Nuka couldn't help but smile himself, and left his mother to sleep. She deserved to be happy...if only for a moment. Other lionesses gossipped about his

mother. They said she was a mean, that she was nasty, and she only cared for herself and could not possibly care about her cubs at all. Nuka knew they were wrong.

Though his mother seemed to be angry most of the time, she was just sad. She lost her mate, and her home all at once. Now, several months later, she was still hurting

and took it out on everyone else. "C'mon guys, let's go." Nuka told his siblings.


End file.
